Elegestolepis

Elegestolepis is a primitive shark that lived during the Silurian and Devonian periods. It was closely related to Mongolepis and Polymerolepis. It is only known from placoid scales discovered in Russia before 1973. The oldest of these scales have been dated back to the Ludlow epoch (427.4 Ma to 423 Ma),[1][2] making Elegestolepis the oldest known shark.[3]

Elegestolepis
Temporal range: Late Silurian-Early Devonian, 427–416 Ma
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Chondrichthyes
Subclass: Elasmobranchii
Infraclass: Euselachii
Superorder: Selachimorpha
Genus: †Elegestolepis
Karatajute & Talimaa - 1973

Elegestolepis dates back to about four hundred and twenty million years ago, but some scales that may yet represent another shark ancestor are known from four hundred and fifty million years ago. Although the placoid scales of Elegestolepis are accepted to be those of a shark, subtle differences in the scales suggest that Elegestolepis itself may have been quite different in appearance to modern sharks. It is not known what Elegestolepis looked like.

References
  1. "Fossilworks: Elegestolepis". fossilworks.org. Retrieved 2016-05-05.
  2. "The Paleobiology Database". paleobiodb.org. Retrieved 2016-05-05.
  3. "Earliest Sharks". www.elasmo-research.org. Retrieved 2016-05-05.


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